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THAT WAS IT? - AEW DYNAMITE BLOG

It is Wednesday and this week Dynamite is at the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston WV. The commentary team is Tony Schiavone, Taz, and Excalibur. 

Saoma Joe (AEW World Champion) vs Dustin Rhodes - Eliminator Match

Swerve Strickland attacks Joe on his way to the ring. They brawl around the stage area and Swerve runs Joe into a table set up against the barricade and the Security gets between them and forces Swerve into the back and we are told we don’t know what will happen to the match.

We then get video of Trent Beretta attacking Orange Cassidy from last week. We go to Renee Paquette who is trying to get a word with Orange Cassidy, and she says Cassidy will have words for people on Rampage.

Adam Copeland (TNT Champion) vs Penta

Penta goes full force at Adam as he starts off, and he presses the advantage as the match starts.  The feel of the show is trying to grab that “Everything is going nuts!” that Raw and Nitro had in the 90’s. In the commercial break they show Miro in the Collision promo, which is interesting since he hasn’t been seen in months.

When we come back from picture in picture, Penta is still dominating the match. The story of the match seems to be that Penta is just bringing it to Adam, who doesn’t seem to be able to fight him off in the early part of the match. We go to a second commercial break in the match, which is pretty rare for any match. 

We also have a countdown clock for the Bucks showing the All In footage.  I could not be less interested in whatever the latest in the “we can’t get CM Punk out of our mind” saga. 

When we come back, Adam is starting to mount a comeback against Penta. They continue to brawl as they have through the match.  They move to fighting on the apron and Adam gets a power slam on the apron, which I hear is the hardest part of the ring. Adam misses when attacking Penta on the floor and hits Alex instead. Penta gets a super kick and then move to the ring and up to the top for a Code Red from the top. 

Adam is finally able to hit a spear out of nowhere for the pin and the win.

Winners and still TNT Champion: Adam Copeland

Penta really dominated in the match and showed himself able to hang with a top level wrestler.  With Fenix out, his push is getting stronger.

The lights go out, and when they come back on, Julia Hart is in the ring, and Brody King attacks Adam. Willow Nightingale runs to the ring and goes after Hart.  King pulls he off but with Willow in the ring, Adam is able to get Brody out of the ring.

Renee is with Hook, Chris Jericho, and Shibata. Jericho jumps in to tell Renee about their matchy later, and goes over his strategy as if he is in charge. Jericho says if they listen to him, they will win.  After he leaves, Shibata’s phone asks what his deal is and Hook says “Trust me.”

I like the gimmick of Shibata using his phone to speak English. 

Renee is with Mark Brisoe and Eddie Kingston, and she asks about their match and that they are teaming up at Dynasty. He says he feels great, but he is in pain. Adam, Willow, and Stokely Hathaway. Adam asks if they are good and they say they are. 

Stokley says next week it should be Adam vs Willow for the TNT title, She says no and instead says a mixed tag match with her and Adam vs Julia and King. Eddie starts to walk off, and Stokley says he apologizes for saying he smelled like Burger King and Newports publicly.

It’s now time for the footage from Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, and it’s clear it’s a pre-tape. They talk about the match between FTR and the Young Bucks, and Matt says he has wounds from their match at All In that haven’t healed yet. They call Jack Perry a scapegoat. Then they say the other individual is good friends with FTR and tried to make the show about him. He then says that maybe FTR was behind the whole thing.

They blame their loss on this issue backstage.

They show the footage and it seems that Punk and Perry have words, Punk shoves Perry and Joe pulls Perry aside and other people pull Punk away.

This was stupid on every level.  It is being used to hype the match between the Buckas and FTR while trying to show that Punk is a liar. Honestly, the footage shows ME it was not the big brawl we have been told it was. It wasn’t what Punk said, it wasn’t what others have leaked to the press.  It was two people having words, a brief exchange where people put hands on each other that was broken up in mere seconds. 

Showing the footage did NOTHING AT ALL to add to the build the FTR match no matter how they framed it.  It was a poke in the eye at Punk because he said bad things about the company, and since it was isolated footage as only part of what happened, it doesn’t come off as the damning indictment they obviously want it to be.  It makes AEW look bad, it makes Punk look bad, and it doesn’t “clear” anyone of what happened.  

I am someone who enjoys AEW.  I like the performers, I like their shows, and I want them to succeed because the people in the company work hard and bring something different to the table.  This incident has taken over the company far more than it needs to, and it does NOT make them look good if they just keep going back to going after the guy they fired.  This is not a Montreal Screw Job level incident. This reeks of the same energy as a guy whose girlfriend dumped him and he can’t stop talking about it over and over and over.

My advice as an outsider and someone simply recaps shows and writes opinions: 

Drop it.  Never mention it again.  If Punk says things you feel damage the company, sue him and never ever mention it on TV.  Don’t tweet about it, don’t put out YouTube videos about it, don’t do cutesy sketches about it, and don’t have anyone mention it on screen ever again. Build your own building and quit trying to build the building you were hoping for a year and a half ago. 

This is not bringing in one viewer.  This is not selling one ticket.  And in the end, it makes you look small. 

FTR come to the ring and we are told “they are not on the format at all.”  Cash says that the only reason they showed the footage was to give an excuse as to how they lost. He says everyone is sick of this and wants to move on.  He says they have to beat the Bucks because he is sick of them being petty. Dax says that the Bucks say without them, they would all be out of a job. He then puts over the locker room and says they will build this place.

He then says they will win the tag team titles by beating the Young Bucks. 

Renee is on the stage and calls out Will Ospreay. He says there is a rumor that he is afraid of the grind, and he says he is going back and forth from the UK and is delivering the best matches in the world. He then makes a snide comment about Paul Levesque.  WHY DO THEY KEEP DOING THIS!

He then talks about how people have tried and failed to beat him and Bryan Danielson is a living legend and he can’t call himself the best in the world until he beats him. 

We then get a spooky video of Julia Hart talking about how she will beat Willow Nightingale mostly in rhyme. 

Hook, Chris Jericho, and Katsuyuri Shibata vs Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, and Anthony Ogogo. 

Ogogo is set to start with Jericho but he then tags out to Moriarty immediately. Jericho dominates Moriarty and when Shibata tags in, we see Jericho and Hook chatting on the apron. Hook is tagged in as per Jericho’s strategy session. Hook throws hand, but when Taylor gets a swing, he drops Hook and we go to picture in picture.

We come back to Shibata working over Moriarty. As it goes on, he and Hook are arguing on the floor. As they argue, Taylor nails Shibata with a right hand and Moriarty covers Shibata for the pin and the win.

Winners: Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, and Anthony Ogogo. 

Hook tells Jericho he’s had enough and tells him to leave and Jericho walks to the back. 

Renee is in the back and she is with Dustin Rhodes and says Joe is cleared to wrestle tonight. Dustin says this doesn’t change anything for him. 

Kazuchika Okada (AEW Continental Champion) vs The Already In the Ring Christiano Argento

This is not the time or night for a squash match, but it is what we get. They have pushed the Big Footage hoping they would get a huge audience, and Okada’s still new to the company so a squash match kills the momentum of the show and does NOTHING for Okada. 

Winner: Okada

After the match Okada says he accepts Pac’s challenge.We then hear Pac’s music and he comes to the stage. He charges to the ring and the Bucks attack Pac from behind. FTR come to the ring and beat down the Bucks, but Okada gets in the ring with a chair to turn the tide. FTR gets taken out and are left in the ring, with Okada nails Pac with a chair.

In the back, Jay White and the Gunns go over what they have been doing the last few weeks to put themselves over.

Renee is on stage to host the Champagne Toast from Toni Storm to Thunder Rosa. Toni, of course, tosses the Champagne in Rosa's face and then attacks her and rubs off her face paint. Deonna Purrazzo shows and Luther stops her and Deonna helps Rosa up, but Rosa doesn’t want her help. Mariah May comes out and Toni gives her a kiss on the cheek and tells her to go to the ring.

Mariah May vs Anna Jay

They start with chops into blows. The match moves into a spotlight for May, and it makes me think that Jay has really become someone who does Mid Level squash matches, which is a shame as she just keeps improving her work in the ring.  After the commercial break they go back and forth with near falls. May is finally able to win with a surprise rollup for the pin and the win.

Winner: Mariah May. 

After the match, Anna locks on a queenslayer and May goes to sleep.  Mina Shirakawa comes to the ring for the save and is given a pair of glasses of Champagne and they celebrate the win with a kiss. 

Alex Marvez is with Mercedes Mone and she goes over how she will face the TBS champion at Double or Nothing. He asks who she thinks will win the TBS title at Dynasty. She says it will be a great match, and talks about how she got injured in a match with Willow. She says she always has a plan and when she is asked who she wants to face at Double or nothing, the lights go out and when they come back on, Mone has been attacked. 

Samoa Joe (AEW World Champion) vs Dustin Rhodes - Eliminator Match Take Two

They start by throwing hands, and I expect this to be a hard hitting match. Dustin has set the stage for this to be a Big Deal for him.  These two also are great at brawls and that’s what we get. And, as much as we talk about how Mox is always bleeding, I think Dustin has a higher “busted open” percentage than anyone in the business not named Nick gage. 

Dustin has a great flurry of offense when we come back from the commercial break. He hits most of his big moves, but when Joe hits a big lariat on Dustin, Dustin just bounces off the mat and rolls to the floor, when Dustin runs Joe into the post.  He grabs the title belt and tosses it into the ring. The ref yells at him not to do it. 

Dustin puts the belt down and goes back on the attack. Dustin hits the crossroads for two. Most of these Eliminator matches have had the champ win, but it really feels like Dustin has a shot as the fight continues. Joe hits an STO and grabs the chain. The ref takes the chain from him and as the ref is getting rid of the belt, Joe nails Dustin with the belt for the pin and the win.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Jow puts on a sleeper after the match and Swerve hits the ring and hits the House Call on Joe. Swerve grabs the chain and Swerve nails him with a punch wrapped in the chain. Security gets between Joe and Swerve. 

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